A Sheep Among Wolves
by Bluemoon375
Summary: Realizing that she may never escape the evil stigma attached to her the Witch Princess disguises herself as a distant relative of Jack's to gain the acceptance of the valley and prove they're not so different. But as the lies stack up and she begins to find herself falling in love can the town accept the truth concerning her identity or will she be forever branded by her curse?
1. Chapter 1

In the midst of the quiet serenity of the spring night throughout the valley the sound of labored breathing began to slowly dispel the sense of tranquility that surrounded the bank of river. Though the troubled sound had managed to carry itself as far as the end of the bridge ahead in the dead of night the only ears it could fall upon at this hour were those of the creatures of the night. The source of the distress as it turned out was the town's local chestnut haired farmhand, Celia, who found herself succumbing to the onset of what appeared to be some sort of attack on her respiratory system, no doubt carried out by the perplexing ailment she possessed. She chaotically staggered about the riverside in what felt like an increasingly hopeless effort to try and make it across the water and back over to her home that sat just beyond the bridge.

"Almost… there…" She wheezed aloud to herself.

Unfortunately, upon her next deep breath Celia found herself collapsing onto the dirt road at her feet, her outstretched arms just barely grazing the wooden planks of the bridge ahead of her. Her chest felt as though it was collapsing onto itself and crushing her lungs, preventing her from doing anything other than continuing to frantically gasp for air like a fish out of water. Her inability to focus on anything other than trying to continuing breathing stopped her from even attempting to cry out for help. She started to regret not having held off on delivering the days harvest to the bar out in town till the morning, especially given that she was home alone for the evening, but her incontrollable sense of guilt would have made her feel like she'd be letting Vesta down had she done so. As her world began to grow dark she prayed from the bottom of her heart that there was at least one soul up at this hour who could aid her.

Fortunately, her predicament was recognized by someone but whether or not it was the knight in shining armor she expected was a different story. Though in her state beggars can't be choosers, especially while passed out.

On the other side of town within the tiny shack she called a home the valley's resident witch found herself disturbed by a strange sensation in the air that seemed to come out of the blue. Almost like a dog who had just heard the faint sound of an intruder outside she perked her head up and focused her senses on the world around her. Eventually she came to recognize the disturbance as a cry for help and quickly shut the book in her hands before placed it upon the bookshelf nearby and heading off into the night. Normally she'd leave investigating such matters to one of the other "less frightening" denizens of the area but seeing as they were all more than likely asleep by this point in the night she couldn't be certain there was anyone else who could handle whatever commotion was disrupting her evening. She just hoped that whoever was in trouble wouldn't mind that she was the one looking to help them.

The streetlamps that aligned the valley's walkways were still lit up as the Witch Princess made her way across town making it easy to spot the passed out figure that lay atop the bridge over the river. Quickening her pace, she rushed over to their side and knelt down beside them as they continued struggling to breath. Despite having lived in the valley for almost a century the Witch Princess was still quite unfamiliar with her neighbors as the sense of terror her presence had to average human practically forced her into keeping her distance from them. While she couldn't identify Celia by her name she was at least able to recognize her as the girl whom she had seen working on the farm across the river from time to time. She was lying face down against the cold wood of the bridge with one hand clutching her chest and her other stretched out towards the her home ahead of her as if to indicate that she had made a futile attempt to try and crawl her way home. The Witch Princess carefully picked her up off the ground and rested her in her arms.

"Poor thing…" She murmured to herself as she stroked the brunette's bangs out of the way.

Cautiously, she placed her fingers against the smooth skin of Celia's neck to feel for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there.

"And just what do you think you're doing!" A booming, though admittedly unintimidating, voice shouted at her just then.

Keeping her hold on Celia the Witch Princess looked behind herself to spot a handful of Harvest Sprites standing on the edge of the bridge. The one who had called out to confront her, Red Ribbon, stood in the middle.

"Relax guys." She calmly replied. "I didn't do anything to her."

"And we're supposed to believe that?" He asked with the sense of irritation in his voice unchanged.

The Witch Princess sighed and looked back at Celia as she continued to breathe heavily in her arms. The last thing she needed right now was to go through the routine of being labeled as a perpetrator by the sprites to a crime she hadn't even been aware of minutes prior, all of course because she was a witch.

"Well?" Ribbon demanded.

"Look," The Witch Princess spat as she turned back around. "Like I already said, I didn't do anything to the poor girl; I found her like this right before you lot showed up."

Ribbon appeared to be unconvinced of her words while the other sprites seemed more focused on Celia's condition.

"What's wrong with her?" The one known as Guts asked in a much gentler tone. "Is she… dead?"

The Witch Princess shook her head. "No, she's still alive, just having some trouble breathing. A lot of trouble it seems..."

"You didn't make it any worse did you?" One of the lesser sprites clad in a light blue asked.

Turning back to Celia the Witch Princess attempted to hide her growing annoyance but it managed to seep out through her words. "I told you I didn't do anything! Why the heck can't you guys understand that?"

An awkward silence fell over the sprites as the answer seemed obvious enough.

"Don't answer that…" The Witch Princess sighed in defeat.

"Look, you took the Goddess and our friends away from not just us but everyone here in the valley. I think we have a right to be just a little bit suspicious here." Ribbon answered despite her wishes. His tone at least was a bit calmer than before.

Sighing once more the Witch Princess rose to her feet, still embracing the unconscious Celia. "I thought I told you that that was an accident. Besides, that farmer's taking care of it now. You'll have your pretty little miss sunshine back in no time."

Ribbon crossed his arms at her. "Having others fix your 'mistakes' while you just sit idly by, typical... And where do you think you're going with her?"

"Argh, I don't have time to just stand around here and chit chat. This girl's in desperate need of help and it seems you all would rather just sit here and point fingers at me about one thing or another than do something about it." She answered angrily.

"You're gonna help someone?" Ribbon laughed. "What are you really going to do? Take her back to your lair and curse her?"

Despite her best intentions to aid her, the Witch Princess could feel as she began to dig her nails into Celia's skin out of anger while she continued to remain unresponsive. Quickly, she spun herself around and began to angrily stomp up to the sprites. "Listen here you little imps! Unlike you weaklings my magical abilities can actually work on and help something other than some damn flowers in a garden, so unless you all want to try and carry this girl back to her home and find a way to help her I suggest you just shut it!"

By the end of her rant she had positioned herself so that she was menacingly looming over the group of sprites, staring down upon them with her fiery red eyes. They huddled together and collectively shook with fear.

"L-L-Look w-we don't want any trouble now…" Guts stammered with fear. "We're just trying to look out for the human's best interests, that's all…"

"Y-Yeah, what about just taking her to a doctor?" A yellow sprite asked.

"You don't think I can do it can you?" She asked, her voice containing a mixture of anger and what sounded to be almost heartbreak. "You don't think I'm capable of helping someone? Is that it? Why, just because I'm supposed to be some kind of devious mischief maker?"

The sprites once more silently exchanged glances amongst themselves.

Not willing to hear their eventual response the Witch Princess turned around yet again and proceeded to cross the bridge to the path leading to Celia's house with her still in her grasp.

Ribbon noticed as she started to separate herself from the group and attempted to pursue her. "Hey! Where do you think yo-"

He found himself cut off by a massive gust of wind that blew straight at him and the other sprites, sending them all tumbling backwards. The Witch Princess didn't even so much as glance back to admire the slight mishap she triggered, not even to try and further intimidate the sprites away. She felt they were smart enough to at least understand that this was the point at which they should just back off and let her go about her business. After all, if they truly didn't believe she was capable of separating herself from that dreadful impression everyone had of her they'd at least have to give her the chance to prove it.


	2. Chapter 2

As her eyes began to gently reopen Celia wasn't sure whether the greater surprise was that she appeared to be back in her bed or the fact that she had managed to even wake up at all. While incidents such as the one she had experienced earlier weren't exactly new to her that sudden shortness of breath coupled with fierce chest pain was enough to make her fear that it might finally be the end every time. She delicately placed her hand over her heart and felt as it tapped back at a steady rhythm as she ensured that her breathing rate was just as stable. The comfy sheets that surrounded her provided a stark contrast to the hard stone trail she last remembered touching up against. Once it appeared that her body was back in working condition she slowly rose up and rested herself against the headrest of the bed before beginning to contemplate how she even managed to return to her room. Her eyes wandered over to the nightstand beside her where she spotted a slightly full glass of water that sat next to the bottle containing her prescribed medication. Just as she began to consider the bizarre idea that she had somehow managed to get herself back home, take her medicine and then fall asleep without remembering any of it a voice spoke to her.

"Oh, you're finally awake." It said.

Celia nearly jumped from fright and let out a loud gasp as she clutched her bed sheets and bunched them over herself.

"Who's there?" She demanded as her eyes frantically bounced the room to try and locate the source of the mysterious voice.

Her eyes focused on the chair in the far corner of the room as a chuckle began to make itself heard from that direction.

"Whoops, my bad." The voice laughed.

With a burst of purple smoke the Witch Princess appeared seated atop the chair in question with a spell book in her hand. Carefully, she closed the book causing it to disappear instantly in the same fashion it appeared in as she rose up to her feet.

"How are you feeling?" She casually asked.

In contrast to the Witch Princess's relaxed demeanor Celia appeared to be going through the onset of panic attack as she started to take a series of quick breaths.

"W-Who are you…? What do you want from me…?" She practically begged in-between her gasps for air.

The Witch Princess's mood quickly shifted to one of concern once Celia started to grasp her chest.

"Hey! Take it easy there!" She warned as she quickly began to step up to the end of the bed.

Celia then hunched over and raised her hand up for her to halt as she continued to hold herself, stopping the Witch Princess in her tracks.

"S-Stay there!" She cried. "Just… just stay away!"

The Witch Princess obeyed and raised her arms up as she took a few steps back. "Easy there, I'm not going to hurt you."

Beads of sweat started to trickle down Celia's face as she refused to take her eyes off the intruder for even a second.

"Wait… you… you're that… _witch_ aren't you?" She asked hesitantly.

The stress she put on that word, witch, struck a nerve with a Witch Princess. Slowly, she lowered her hands and sunk her head down.

"Yeah… that's me alright…" She answered quietly.

Celia continued to keep her gaze locked on her as she took a moment to settle her breathing down.

"This, this has to just be some sort of hallucination." She tried to convince herself aloud. "I must still be passed out somewhere; this is all just a fever dream or something."

The Witch Princess remained unmoved as Celia soon came to realize that this was very much reality.

"What… what are you doing here?" She finally asked in a calmer tone once she seemed to be in control of herself again.

The Witch Princess somberly looked up at her. "Are you going to actually hear what I have to say? Or are you going to just shout at me once I start…?"

From the way she spoke Celia could understand that the Witch Princess was already distraught by her previous outbursts.

"Alright, I'll listen." She replied calmly with a nod.

With a deep breath the Witch Princess began to speak. "Alright, last night I was minding my own business back at my home when suddenly I felt that something was off in the air. I went out looking for what was wrong and ended up coming across you passed out on the bridge nearby. I… well, I didn't really know what was wrong so I brought you here and-"

"How did you know I lived here?" Celia then interrupted despite her earlier promises. "I've never seen you around before. Have you been watching me or something?"

Embarrassed at how she was right to a degree the Witch Princess shyly brushed away her hair and looked off to the side as she held her right arm.

"I… I've come to know these things… over time…" She nervously answered in a whisper. "I was worried alright. You looked like you were in serious trouble and I wanted to help."

Once more noting the Witch Princess's increasing distress Celia tried to tone down her confrontational attitude.

"So, you really helped me?" She asked.

The Witch Princess silently nodded as Celia's gaze returned to the contents atop the nightstand.

"And my medicine?" She questioned.

"After I brought you here I kind of did some poking around…" The Witch Princess uneasily answered as she began to nervous stroke her own arm. "It said it helped with shortness of breath and chest pains so I assumed it was yours…"

Celia's eyes jumped over the glass besides her medicine container. "But if I was unconscious…"

"A little magic took care of that…" The Witch Princess replied with a nervous smile.

"This is how you help people…?" Celia began in a more serious tone. "You just… break into their homes, go through their stuff and then… possess them?"

The Witch Princess's arms dropped to her side as she became almost heartbroken. "What…?"

"You should have just taken me to Hardy's, like anyone else would have. What if this ended up not being my house? What if that wasn't my medicine?" Celia continued to rant in a rare display of anger from her.

"Hardy's? I… I was just trying to help… I thought… you were in trouble and… well no one else was around…" The Witch Princess tried to speak but found herself constantly fumbling over her words.

Celia sighed. "I get that you we're trying to help. It's just, I feel as though there were better ways of handling things."

The Witch Princess turned herself around and lowered her head. "No, I get it… I tried to help and screwed it up."

An air of uneasiness came over Celia. She was never one to try and outright make somebody feel bad yet it seemed like that was all she could do at the moment. The thought of attempting to apologize came just a moment too late as a before she could even start to speak in another flash of smoke the Witch Princess vanished from sight.

* * *

The crushing weight of embarrassment from her "screw up" earlier in the morning was more than enough to keep the Witch Princess confined within her home for the rest of the day. It was far from the greatest feeling in the world but she managed to find some semblance of comfort in the idea that for once she had an excuse for shutting herself away from the outside world. To try and keep her mind off the sense of humiliation slowly eating away at her she was curled up in the corner of the room with yet another book of hers. With the amount of time she had to herself throughout her lengthy existence she had already read the various books on her shelves more times than she'd care to remember but given her situation there was hardly much else to do. The sound of a sudden knock at the door brought a glimmer of hope to her that maybe there would be some upside to the day. She stood up from her spot and headed over to the door to find that her visitor was Jack, the local farmer she had tasked with saving the Goddess.

"Jack, what brings you here? Have you rescued some more sprites? Maybe even the Goddess herself?" She finished with a laugh.

Jack responded with a brief courtesy laugh though he appeared to be unnerved by something. "No, I didn't manage to bring any new sprites back today though the ones I've already managed to save did come and have a chat with me today."

"Really?" She asked while raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms. "Was it about anything in particular?"

"Well, yeah, I mean first they wanted to check up on how I was doing but then they, well, kind of talked about a little situation they had last night…" He paused for a moment as he scratched the back of his head and nervously looked about the room. "With you…"

The Witch Princess's arms dropped back down to her sides as she let out an annoyed sigh. "Great… what did they tell you?"

"That apparently there was an incident down by the bridge where Celia had passed out and you guys all got into some sort of fight or something." He replied.

"Look Jack, I'm going to tell you right now I didn't do anything. I was minding my own business here last night when suddenly I sensed that something was wrong. I went out to investigate and found the poor girl out cold and decided to help her but then those impudent little urchins showed up and started accusing me of trouble." She explained as her aggravation began to once more seep out.

"I know, I know, that's what they told me, well minus the urchin part." Jack said as he took a step back and motioned for her to calm down. "It's just that they were a little concerned as to what happened after you left, that's all, you know? They were kind of curious if you… I don't know… hurt her or something."

The Witch Princess shut her eyes and took a deep breath in order to calm the storm that was brewing inside of her. "What's there to know? I did what I said I was going to do. I took her back to her home and made sure she was fine."

Something in his eyes told her that he wasn't sure if he could fully trust her, retriggering that sense of heartbreak in her.

"You… you believe me right Jack?" She asked. "You believe me when I tell you that I tried to help her right?"

"Yeah, I do, it's just, you know, I want to be sure that when you _tried_ to help her you didn't do something like, I don't know, accidentally send her off to some other dimension or something." He uneasily tried to joke.

His attempt at humor to lighten the mood up at her expense didn't exactly help her as intended.

"Jack, please, you have to trust me when I tell you that I stayed true to my word and brought her to her house and made sure she was okay. You could go and ask her right now, she'd tell you that she's fine… amongst other things I suppose…" She explained as she felt herself start to lose her composure at the memory of the morning's events.

"I guess I should've checked on her before coming here first, huh?" He asked. "Probably would have made this conversation a lot whole lot easier... But what do you mean that she'd have more to say than just 'I'm fine'."

"She… didn't take to kindly to the fact that I was the one who saved her…" She muttered. "You know what the whole witch thing does to people…"

"What happened? Did she yell at you or something?" He asked.

"No, no… just… it would have been nice to just hear 'thanks,' you know? To just have someone acknowledge that I'm more than just some evil mischief maker, that… that I can actually have empathy for people… that if you'd take the time to know me you'd see that I'm not so different from any of you other humans…" She stopped her rant when it seemed that she was just about on the verge of tears.

"Hey, I know that you're not so bad." Jack tried to argue.

She glared at him with eyes redder than usual. "Just a moment ago you were seriously considering the idea that I was lying about helping someone and actually hurt them. You might be the one who knows me the best right now but that doesn't mean you've accepted me yet."

He wanted to try and argue with her again but he knew that she was right. Even if he felt comfortable enough to engage in casual conversation with her from time to time she was the one who, as she'd always put it, 'accidentally' sent the Harvest Goddess away and had a reputation among the sprites as somewhat of an orchestrator of misfortune resulting in him always at least subconsciously having his guard up around her.

"What is it that makes me so much more different from all of you?" She asked. "Why is it that even if I'm on my best behavior people still can't trust me?"

Much like when she asked the sprites that the previous night she knew what answer was coming and braced herself.

"Well… do you really want me to say it?" Jack asked.

She sighed and shook her head no as she turned away from him. "It's not like I wanted things to be this way you know. I didn't ask for a life like this. Why is it so hard for people to accept me just because I'm not… _human_."

Jack remained silent, unsure of how to answer her.

"I think its best you left." She finally said when he refused to answer. "I just want to be alone right now… as usual…"

Though she didn't see it, Jack nodded to signify that he understood before quietly exiting the room. As she heard the door shut she brought her hand up to her face and covered her mouth to silence herself as she started to cry. Was it really that big a difference that she had the attribute of a witch attached to her? She hadn't even gotten around to causing any major chaos in decades yet it was obvious that people still feared her. Was the solution really as simple as just being human? She had wanted to believe that just showing that she wasn't an evil freak would be enough to gain acceptance but as the morning proved as long as it was her no one would believe it was genuine. It seemed that if she truly wanted people to accept her they couldn't know that it was her helping them.


	3. Chapter 3

The dark clouds that gathered over the valley the following morning didn't end up releasing their burden until partway in the afternoon. The delayed rainfall irritated Jack as not only did it come after he had already taken to watering his crops for the day but given that he lacked an umbrella the downpour was more than enough to keep him indoors. Ever since he had been asked to leave her home the previous day a growing sense of guilt towards the Witch Princess had begun to overtake him and all he had hoped to do was offer his apologies. Much like Celia, causing her as much grief as he did had been nowhere near his intention but given the circumstances it was starting to seem like an inevitable conclusion to encounters with her. Whether they'd admit it or not it appeared that everyone in the valley, even himself it seemed, harbored some sort of suspicion or disdain towards her simply because one word had managed to find itself attached to her. While she was right in pointing out how he was the current resident of the valley who knew her the best he still was unsure as to how she even earned the moniker "Witch Princess" and, barring the disappearance of the Goddess, if she had actually done anything to live up to said title.

Quite frankly he wasn't even sure if she even had an actual name.

Jack's regretful thoughts eventually found themselves broken up when it sounded as though someone's fist had begun to join the rain in tapping against his door. At least being stuck indoors gave him the opportunity to catch whoever had decided to pay him a visit in such crummy weather. Much to his surprise he found when he opened the door that his unanticipated guest was someone whom he had never met before. Before him stood a girl with long brown hair that had been put up in a ponytail, allowing only one set of bangs to part down the sides of her face. Her apparel consisted of an orange and white colored t-shirt that contained a faded logo of sorts smack dab in the center along with a green apron tied around her waist that covered up her jeans. On her back she carried a brown rucksack similar to his and held a lime green suitcase in her right hand that, much like herself, was protected from the rain by the umbrella in her other. If he had to guess she was probably the same age as him if not possibly a year or two older. Her abnormally colored purple eyes endlessly bounced about the outside of his home as her unsteady panting gave the impression that she was nervous to just be standing in front of him.

"Hi there, is there something I can help you with?" He asked.

The girl remained silent for another moment before taking a deep breath. "Y-Yeah, I… I'm looking for Duncan's farm… is this it?" She answered timidly.

"Duncan's? No, I'm Jack, this is my farm." He answered back before the name in question suddenly began to ring a bell. "Wait, Duncan… do, do you mean my dad?"

The girl briefly remained unchanged before nearly jumping in surprise. "Your father…? You're Duncan's son?"

Jack awkwardly nodded his head. "Yeah, that's me. Did you… know him?"

Again, she took another pause before beginning to slowly nod her head as well. "Yes… well, sort of. He's my… uncle."

Jack's eyes felt as though they were about to pop out of his head from surprise. "Your uncle?"

She nodded yet again, only this time it seemed a bit more confident. "Y-Yeah, my… my mother was his sister. They… they weren't exactly close so I don't know if you ever knew her…"

"Heh, you could say the same about him and my own mother." He attempted to simply laugh but it was evident by the way his voice trailed off that the absence of his father wasn't exactly something he looked back on fondly. "I… never really knew him either…"

The girl uncomfortably stared down at her feet and kicked them around, unsure of how to respond.

Jack eyes eventually lifted off of the ground and up to the rainclouds above.

"Would you like to step inside?" He asked as he stepped off to the side of the doorway. "I'm sure you're getting sick of standing out there in the rain."

It was beginning to seem like typical behavior for her to stand in silence before appearing to snap back to reality a few seconds later. "Sure, I'd love to."

He motioned for her to enter and she did so without hesitation. As he closed the door behind her she set her suitcase down beside the mat at her feet before gently shaking her umbrella off to the side, setting it against the wall once most of the rain that coated it was removed.

"I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves yet." Jack began as he extended his arm out to her for a handshake. "I'm Jack."

The way her eyes fixed on his offering gave off a great sense of confusion, almost as if she could hardly recognized the gesture. Carefully, she attempted to raise the hand opposite of the one he had offered her but quickly caught on to what appeared to be an obvious mistake and practically threw the proper hand into his grip. All the while her eyes frantically leapt between his own and the empty hand presented to her as though to ensure that he wasn't aware of how perplexed she was by the simple process.

"Pony." She finally replied once her fingers were interlaced with his. "My name's Pony."

"Pony, huh? Well it's nice to meet you." He smiled as he let go over hand. "Or, well, finally meet you I guess. I had no idea that I had any cousins."

The increasingly familiar routine of her putting on a blank stare before reacting a moment later took hold once more. Naturally, after witnessing said habit so many times one might possibly begin to entertain the idea that maybe there was potentially something amiss but Jack's mind was far too preoccupied with prospect of bonding with a long lost relative to even care.

"Yeah, I guess that makes us cousins." She nervously laughed.

"So what brought you here in search of my dad?" He asked as he drifted over to the kitchen table on the other side of the room, motioning for her to join him. "You didn't have to travel far did you? Or did you know that he was living here?"

"Yeah… well, I had met him a couple of times, you know, after he moved here, and, well, I've been traveling around for some time now and I thought that this would be a nice place to stop in." She answered, noticeably taking her time to formulate her response. "I figured that, well, since… _family_ lived here I'd have an excuse to stop by."

Jack smiled uneasily. "Huh, well, I guess there's no easy way to tell you this but my old man is dead. He died about a year and a half ago."

It was strange, the way he was able to say that his dad was dead so bluntly, especially to someone who was apparently family and knew him to some extent. Given that he had never actually even met the man before probably removed any trace of emotional attachment he could have to him.

When Pony remained silent he spoke again.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "You're… not upset or anything are you?"

She slowly shook her head. "No, no, not at all, er, well… it's just that I haven't spoken to or heard from him in so long that… I don't know, I guess I… expected it?"

"It's understandable." He assured her. "I didn't really feel anything when I learned he died either. Goddess, it sounds awful but there I'm not sure what else you're supposed to feel when a complete stranger dies."

She chuckled uneasily. "Yeah, I guess that's just how it goes."

"That's what brought me here actually, his death." He explained. "Apparently when he died he had this place set aside for me in his will for some reason. Can't say I know why he did but I figured it was worth looking into and what can I say, I like it here in the valley."

What looked to be a pained smile came across Pony's face. The fingers of her right hand began to curl and unfurl in a disordered fashion as if she was attempting to restrain herself from saying something.

"Anyway, enough about all that depressing stuff from the past." Jack began as he started to fear that all his negativity towards his father was the cause of her distress. "You said you stopped by since you were passing through the area?"

"Oh, yeah, right." She nodded. "I plan on staying here in the valley for a while. Not too long, not too long at all." She put extra stress on that note. "I guess I just figured that here would be the best place to visit first since I, well… since I don't really know anyone here."

"While I can help you with that!" Jack offered with a hearty laugh. "Today might not be the best day for it on account of the rain but if you're planning on sticking around I'll be happy to try and get you acquainted with everyone."

"Really…? You'd… do that for me?" She asked.

"Why not?" He shrugged. "What else is family for? Besides, it'll give us some time to get to know each other."

The smile that began to form on her face conveyed a deep sense of gratitude towards him but also contained a hidden layer of what might have been guilt. Whatever the implications of the subtle undertones were wound up being lost on Jack as he failed to even pick up on their presence.

"So I take it then that you haven't gotten a place to stay at yet since you decided to stop here first?" He asked.

"Yeah, the, uh, few times that I came to visit we, err, usually just stayed here." She replied.

"Heh, can't say I know how you managed that seeing how small this place is." Jack laughed as he examined the small living space as Pony nervously looked on. "Guess the old man used to have some spare cots or something. I'm sure the inn will have a spot for you at least."

"The inn?" She questioned after another pause.

"Yeah, it's right down in the middle of town." He explained as he stood up from his spot at the table. "Come on, I'll show you."

With a hint of hesitation Pony joined him and standing and proceeded over to the door behind him. Retrieving both her suitcase and umbrella she turned to him and gave a silent nod to signify that she was ready. On her prompt he opened the door and allowed her to extended the umbrella outside and open it up before the two made their way out themselves to begin their trip.

"So how did you get here?" Jack asked as they crossed through the farmland. "You take a boat? Walk?"

"I… guess I did both?" She answered in a questioning way.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I took a boat to… oh what's it called… Mineral Town! Yeah, Mineral Town, I took a boat over to there and then I had to walk the short distance over to here." She explained, ending with a nervous laugh.

"Makes sense." Jack shrugged back. "I don't think there's any other way to really get here. Sides, I can't say I've heard of any other places in the area other than Mineral Town over there."

Pony started to give his remark a courtesy laugh but was stopped when she felt her head begin to throb. With the suitcase still in her grip she raised her hand up and placed it against her forehead.

"You alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, just getting a headache I think." She replied, trying her hardest to seemingly remain calm.

" _Dammit…_ _Not yet…"_

"Need me to give you a hand with any of your stuff?" He offered seeing as having her hands full was only making it harder for her to try and massage her head.

To his surprise she quickly jerked her arm carrying the suitcase away from him. "No, no, that's alright. I, I got it."

"Alright, if you say so." He mumbled.

"Are we almost there?" She groaned as she tightened her eyes in response to the pain starting to worsen.

Jack looked ahead and saw that they were almost within arm's reach of the building.

"Yeah, it's this place right here." He answered as he pointed to the location in question.

Pony lowered her hand down from her face and reopened her eyes in order to see what Jack had indicated to her. When her eyes made contact with what was apparently the inn she stopped in her tracks and appeared to examine the surrounding area.

"Area must've changed a bit since you were last here huh?" Jack asked.

She remained unmoved with her mouth continuously agape. It looked as though she was being overcome by a flood of memories.

"Yeah… it's… certainly changed…" She quietly uttered.

Her view drifted over to the bridge that sat at the end of the trail located behind them and fixated on it for a moment before she let out a heavy sigh.

"Well I guess that's to be expected." Jack remarked. "Oh well, no point in standing in the rain now, let's head inside."

Jack proceeded to head towards the inn and upon opening the door looked back to see Pony had yet to remove herself from her position, her view still out towards the riverbank.

"Pony? You coming?" He asked.

She violently shook her head to bring him back to her attention but also seemed to succeed in worsening her headache as she let out a pained grunt and placed her hand atop her head once more.

"Yeah… coming." She answered.

With haste, she scurried up over to Jack and followed him inside of the building. As he wandered up to the front desk in search of Ruby, the owner, much like she had in his home she gave the umbrella a quick shake down before closing it up and joining him.

"Ruby, you in?" Jack shouted.

"Jack? Is that you?" A voice called from one of the backrooms.

Not a moment later a woman who Pony naturally assumed was Ruby emerged from one of the doorways behind the desk.

"So it is; my this is a pleasant surprise." She smiled. "What brings you out in this weather?"

Jack slid off to the side in order to fully reveal Pony who was standing slightly behind him. "Well Ruby, I'd like to introduce you to Pony. Apparently she's a long lost cousin of mine."

Pony gave a slight laugh and smiled uneasily. "Hi."

"It's just one surprise after another." Ruby laughed. "Well it's nice to meet you dear. Jack, are you taking her around town to introduce her to everyone?"

"That was the plan for some point." He answered. "Right now I'm hoping to get her a place to stay."

Jack's eyes shifted over to Pony who stood beside him in silence. When she didn't speak he gave her a slight nudge in the arm which prompted her to temporarily lose her composer and glare back at him as if to ask what the hell that was. Quickly and by examining his expression she caught on that his gesture wasn't an attempt to antagonize her but goad her into speaking and she returned her focus to Ruby.

"Yeah, I, well, plan on staying here in the valley for a bit and need a place to stay." She explained.

Ruby smiled once more. "Well you've certainly come to the right place for that. And wouldn't you know that while I'm at it I can also help you with getting to know some people." She began to look around at her sides. "Nina?" She called out to the room she had appeared from earlier. "Nina are you still back there in the kitchen?"

"Oh don't worry I'm coming." An elderly voice replied as an old woman with a cane slowly made her way into the lobby. "I was just putting away those dishes of yours, what is it?"

Ruby flashed her a smile as thanks. "There's someone here who we'd like you to meet."

"Hi… I'm Pony..." Pony sheepishly spoke.

"Pony? Well it's always a pleasure to meet a new face around here." Nina smiled. "What brings you out to the valley?"

"Oh, well, I… well…" She started to mumble.

Jack picked up on her increasingly prominent shyness and decided to speak for her. "She's doing some traveling and decided to stop here since she remembered she has family here and well wouldn't you know it it turned out to be me."

"Why I didn't know you had any relatives Jack." Nina remarked. "Why, you hardly talk about your family at all."

"It came as a surprise to me too." He laughed.

"Well I hope this nasty weather hasn't managed to ruin your trip so far dear." Nina said to Pony.

"No, not at all." She answered.

"Heh, I'm surprised you're out all this way on a day like this Nina. I figured Galen would've wanted you to stay home and avoid catching something." Jack remarked.

"Oh he worries too much." She muttered. "A little rain never hurt anyone. These bones might be old but I still got plenty of life in me. I won't be going anywhere for a good while."

"So Jack, or Pony rather, you said you were looking for a room?" Ruby chimed in.

"Yeah, right." Pony replied.

"Well as it would happen I have a few rooms upstairs that are free for use. It's only 550G a day and you can pick whichever one you like." Ruby said.

Pony felt her eyes widen. "Oh, right, money… let me just…"

She set her umbrella and suitcase down on the floor and took off her backpack and began to seemingly rummage through it.

"Um… well… it should be…"

After about a minute of searching she let out an audible sigh of defeat.

"I… err, can't seem to find my money anywhere…" She confessed.

"Do you think you might have lost it on your trip?" Jack asked.

Pony shrugged.

"That's a shame." Ruby remarked. "But I'm not about to turn someone away in this kind of weather, especially if they're the family of a good friend. I'll tell you what, you pick out a room and we'll find some way to get it all covered."

"Do… do you really mean that…?" Pony asked with a sense of deep gratitude.

"Of course, we'll find a way to make it work." Ruby answered.

This sensation of profound appreciation was something completely new to Pony, she felt as though she was about to cry she was that grateful.

"Th…thank… yo-"

She found herself cut off as that blistering pain returned to her head and began to practically pound against her brain. With a cry of distress she gripped her head once more.

"Head acting up again?" Jack asked with concern.

"Y-Yeah…" She replied. "I… I guess it's all this excitement from today… Argh, I'd just like to lie down right now…"

Jack looked over at Ruby who gave him a nod before turning around and pulling one of the room keys off of the rack behind her.

"Here you are dear." She said as she handed the key off to Pony. "This should be for the room to the left of the stairs. You go ahead and rest up, we'll sort everything out tomorrow."

As she took the key from her grasp Pony gave Ruby a pained smile. "Th-thank you so much… I… I don't know what to say…"

Ruby simply smiled. "It's nothing, now go on, get some rest. It seems like you've had a long day."

Pony looked among the smiling trio that surrounded her and tried her best to smile back but her head pain was beginning to grow unbearable. Before she could even allow Jack the chance to offer his help yet again she quickly retrieved her luggage from the floor and began to make her way upstairs. Near the top of the steps she momentarily stopped and looked back at everyone one last time and felt that new sense of gratitude within herself once more. She wanted to take a moment to bask in it but at this point she knew that she was pushing her limit. With a quick wave she ascended to the second floor and headed to the door that bore the same number as the key in her hand. Turning the knob open she shuffled inside before nearly slamming the door shut and locking it up. With a sigh of relief she dropped her belongings at her side and leaned back against the door.

"Just made it…" She sighed.

Taking a moment to rest she then stood up and made her way over to the dresser that sat beside the window and gazed into its mirror. After taking note of her own reflection she took a seat in the chair before it and just about collapsed onto its wooden surface before taking a few deep breaths. As she rose back up she gazed back into the mirror at the pair of red eyes that now stared at her.

"I suppose that's what I get for conducting a dress rehearsal all last night?" She asked herself.

She proceeded to grip the red hair tie that kept her pony tail up and removed it. As her hair began to unfurl down her back it grew in length and transformed into a frizzled, tangled mess. Its color shifted from its brunette appearance back into a dirty blonde as well. Once her hair settled into place she sighed and leaned forward to rest temporarily rest her head in her hands.

"Quite the mess you've gotten yourself into." She said as she examined the room through the mirror.

She had hoped that things at Jack's would end in a way that would give her an opportunity to go off and make her own living arrangements by herself so she could work from there but his extreme generosity was clearly unforeseen. Building a web of lies seemed like such an easy task the night before when she began to plot out her plan but to actually go and attempt to spin such massive lies in front of someone was a different thing entirely. She hated the sense of betrayal brewing inside of her towards Jack but he was the perfect fit for her story and, quite frankly, she saw no other way of doing things. Had she attempted to try and tell him of her scheme to prove her innocence to the valley and gotten his disapproval then any attempt of hers to try and prove herself would be futile. He would be suspicious of any new residents who passed by, whether they were her or not, and the day before had shown her that it was too late to try and make amends as her true self.

At least the known distance Jack placed between himself and his family gave her thinly crafted backstory some cover since he likely wouldn't be seeking any sort of validation on it from his mother. Besides, she didn't plan on staying incognito long. Just long enough to gain the general favor of the valley then it was a matter of properly revealing her identity in a manner that would let that acceptance transfer over without a hitch. Maintaining her friendship with Jack afterwards, however, felt like it was going to be a whole other story.

Perhaps helping him discover the father he never knew could help soften the blow?

Though her headache caused from her overexposure to magic in order to keep herself disguised had instantly vanished the moment she ditched her costume a new one was beginning to set in as her mind began to try and make sense of what exactly her plan from here was.

"Guess that's what you get for diving straight into your own crazy schemes without giving it proper thought…"

 _A/N: Originally I planned on having her disguised as Claire but since that didn't feel like a big enough change in appearance I switched over Jill, then opted to use the name alternate name Pony since having both Jack and Jill in the same story felt really really weird._


	4. Chapter 4

As she finished tying her hair up into a ponytail the Witch Princess fixed her gaze upon her reflection in the dresser's mirror. Having yet to fully alter her appearance into that of her Pony persona she couldn't help but pause for a moment and grin at how unusual she looked while trying to pass off as "normal." With her jumbled mess of knotted blonde hair practically erupting from the fashionable display she kept it in and crimson eyes coming close to matching the worn out colors of her top she couldn't help but feel as though this type of appearance was made for anyone but her. Perhaps it was simply that she had grown so accustomed to her usual drab grey ensemble of so many years that she never imagined ever straying from her trademark look.

"Maybe you'd look better with a different outfit." She mused to herself aloud with a hint of laughter.

Keeping her gaze focused on the mirror she lifted her hand up to summon forth the suitcase which still sat beside the door where she had dropped it the previous afternoon. By curling her fingers inwards the luggage began to carefully drift across the room over towards her. She let it hover beside her head for a moment before flicking her fingers back out in order to trigger the locks the kept it sealed and reveal it's barren interior.

"Whoops, guess not." She laughed.

Amidst her cackling the suitcase burst into a thin purple haze as the Witch Princess's attention shortly returned back to her reflection. With a deep breath she gently closed her eyes and focused her mind on the magical essence that lay dormant within herself in order to initiate the transformation. The sensation of her hair uncoiling itself and slightly receding into her head without hassle was peculiar to say the least but with the uncertainty of how long her deceptive stunt was going to be it was be something she was going to have to grow accustomed to. As her hair tone then shifted into a wooden brown she could feel as her vocal chords received a massage of sorts in order to prepare her for the much softer, gentler tone she had decided on for Pony voice.

Once the mysterious forces from within finished their work she reopened her eyes and smirked at the sight of the two shimmering purple orbs that sat within the mirror. There was no shame she felt in taking a moment to admire her handiwork. The smile across her face however quickly transformed into that of a frown as she felt both herself and her heart momentarily sink.

Was this really all it took to gain the valley's acceptance? A new set of clothes, a new hairdo, and a new name? Granted, there was much more to her masquerade than that, namely her falsified relation to Jack, but given the responses she had received just the other day it seemed that everyone in Forget-Me-Not was more than ready to welcome any new residents with open arms. Having been able to obtain her room at the inn for what was essentially free only served to remind her that had she attempted to try and find residence as her true self being turned away politely would probably be the best possible outcome she could hope for.

Maybe she was wrong in questioning the aggressive tactics she had employed in order to acquire her dwelling within the valley so many years ago.

"No, no, no, snap out of it." She ordered while forcefully shaking her head. "You need to be more confident today. All that negativity is only going to serve to give you away faster."

The Witch Princess, or rather at this point Pony, rose from her seat and drifted over to the window. Giving the drawstring a gentle tug the blinds that obstructed her view of the outside flew up to their resting position allowing the light of the post morning sun to flood the room.

"Today's your first real day being normal." She said to herself as did so, speaking in a manner similar to that of a motivational speaker. "You're going to be more confident today, more talkative." She turned her attention back to the mirror. "You need to show everyone that you're one of them. You need to make them like you."

Despite her headache inducing plotting the previous night she had yet to truly determine if her goal extended beyond simply earning the general favor of the valley. Given that that was the complete opposite of the reception she currently received though it seemed like a pretty good place to start.

Nodding at herself in the mirror she snapped her fingers causing her rucksack to manifest itself upon her shoulders in a standard puff of dark smoke. Giving its straps a light pull for comfort she gave herself a final confirmation nod and headed out of the room. Having agreed to settle the terms of her free boarding today she determined that finding Ruby would be her first priority but was quickly taken aback by the abundance of doors that stood to greet her right outside her own. In actuality it was really only four rooms that lined the walls of inn's second floor, including hers, but without any idea as to where Ruby was she hadn't a clue where to start.

Her eyes bounced between the choices before her at random and eventually settled on selecting the room that sat across from her own. With a hint of nervousness in her step she walked up to the door and gave it a gentle knock, hoping it was the right one.

The door was soon opened by cherry haired girl whom she had yet to meet. It was strange, the unnerving chill that came over Pony as the girl looked at her with unaffected eyes that felt as cold as they were blue.

"Uh…" The girl uttered aggressively when Pony opted to remain frozen.

"I… I'm looking for Ruby." She answered back nervously. While she had indeed planned on trying to be more confident in speaking with others there was just something unsettling about this girl's vibe.

"Well this isn't her room." The girl answered back rather bluntly. "She does work downstairs you know."

"Y-Yeah, right. I should… check down there." Pony replied back, trying her best to mask her uneasiness with a nervous laugh.

"That all?" The girl asked.

Pony nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright then." The girl said before shutting the door in her face.

Pony found herself frozen in front of the now closed doorway for a brief moment before slowly turning around and making her way towards the stairs. Her encounter with that redhead had lasted no more than two minutes yet it was easily the most unsettling experience she'd had in recent memory. Though she wasn't as in tune with the hearts of others as, say, the Goddess, the Witch Princess could still sense that the unpleasant vibes her apparent neighbor had given off were not exactly an unnatural occurrence. As she descended the steps leading to the lobby she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the strange sensation she felt towards this girl was the same way everyone else felt in regards to herself, at least when she wasn't disguised.

The idea that someone so potentially unnerving that they managed to make even a Witch shudder in fear could be living naturally amongst the other valley residents while she herself was forced to stay hidden nearly caused her to enter another brief bout of depression but Ruby's voice managed to pull her thoughts elsewhere.

"Oh Pony, there you are. Are you feeling better this morning?" She spoke from behind the counter as Pony took her first steps onto the hardwood floor of the lobby.

Pony nodded as she approached her. "Y-Yeah, just needed a good night's sleep it seems, that's all."

Ruby paused and gave her a contagious warm smile. It was endearing to see how many people seemed to already care about her but the concept was still incredibly foreign to her. She wasn't used to this type of behavior towards her, it had simply never happened before, and quite frankly she wasn't entirely sure how to respond to it.

"I'm glad to hear it dear." Ruby replied. "Seeing as you're up and ready I'm sure you'd like to hear what I've come up with in regards to your boarding arrangement?"

"Yeah." Pony answered. "I actually came down looking for you."

"Well Jack, Nina and I did some thinking yesterday after you went up to rest and thought that it might be a fun idea if you helped out around the valley in order to pay for your room here. It'd be a nice way to help you get acquainted with everyone living here and as long as you're making a positive contribution I don't see why I can't let you stay here for free." Ruby explained.

Pony's eyes lit up so fast that she thought they were about to change color. This was just the opportunity she needed in order to prove to the valley that she was more than some evil heartless witch.

"Yes! Helping out around here, that sounds great!" She exclaimed quite loudly before almost immediately cringing at her outburst. She doubted that Ruby had even the slightest clue as to her real identity but her cry of approval might be the sort of thing she'd want to avoid in the future.

Ruby simply began to laugh. "I'm glad to see you like our little idea. To be honest we weren't really sure how it'd go over with you."

Pony nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it sounds like a… uh, good chance for me to get to know some people while I stay. It's… wonderful really. When can I start?"

"Oh?" Ruby remarked with surprise before scanning the desk before her. "Well, um, let me think for a moment… uh, well… Oh! Today's Tuesday isn't it? I have an order over at Vesta's farm that needs to be delivered here. If you'd like I guess you can start out with that."

"Sure, sounds great." Pony beamed with enthusiasm before hesitating. "Um… where is this place exactly?"

Ruby gave her yet another smile as if to say her confusion was understandable and nothing to be embarrassed about. "Vesta's farm lies just beyond the river that cuts through the valley. The bridge to it is just south of Jack's."

Pony started to freeze up as the realization of what her destination was started to become apparent to her.

"Who… who should I look for when I get there…?" She asked, her voice seeming to trail off.

"Vesta's the one I believe who handles most of their shipping work but I think her two helpers Marlin and Celia should be able to help you out too if needed. They're a nice bunch really; you should try to introduce yourself to them all if you can." Ruby answered. "Vesta's the tall woman with the yellow outfit if it helps."

Pony hoped that her flimsy smile didn't give away growing sense of anxiety. Knowing that the one she could now label as Celia carried contempt for her made her feel as though she was about to be sent into the lion's den. While she would be going in with a new name and appearance she felt as though none of it mattered as though Celia's apparent hatred would be more than enough to see through her inadequate disguise.

"Al…Alright… I… can do that…" She finally replied tentatively, accepting that she was too far committed in Ruby's mind to back out.

"Thank you so much dear." Ruby smiled. "And don't worry about having to pay them or anything, that's all taken care of. All you need to do is just check on how it's coming along and introduce yourself."

"Simple." Was all Pony replied with, albeit while practically shaking in her shoes.

For another moment Pony remained locked in place with an awkward smile on her face and an even more awkward laugh quietly emitting from under her breath. It wasn't until Ruby began to mimic the same behavior, although to a lesser extent that, she realized how much she was working against herself and just about bolted out the door without so much as a goodbye.

* * *

Outside, Pony didn't manage to get too far away from the inn before managing to encounter Jack. In her passing state of confusion triggered by hurried pace she might have nearly ran into head on had he not called out to her.

"Pony!" He shouted as he waved and approached her. "Hey, how are you?"

"Oh, Jack," She noted once her mind slowed down enough to process who had addressed her. "I… I'm fine…"

"Heh, that's a relief." He remarked. "I'd have hated to see your first trip back here in ages ruined by a migraine or something."

"Yeah, haha, a migraine…" She attempted to laugh.

"So what's got you in such a rush if you don't mind me asking? You were walking so fast I thought you were trying to run away or something." He ended with a laugh.

"Oh, that? Heh heh, well, that…" Pony's mind was still racing so fast that her thoughts refused to hold still. "Well, Ruby asked me to go over to… what was it, Vesta's? Yeah, Vesta's, and check on how her delivery for today was coming along."

"Oh, so you liked the little idea we came up with then?" He asked.

"Yeah, I like it." She answered as her former sense of enthusiasm came creeping back up on her. "It sounded like a nice way for me to be able to show everyone here the kind of person I am." A shudder ran through her body as she froze up.

" _Did you just…!"_

"You… you know… so I… er, don't look like someone who takes advantage of someone else's generosity." She nervously smiled.

To her surprise Jack simply laughed at her strange behavior.

"Haha, unless you actually were running away I don't think anyone would think that. Besides, just about everyone who lives here is really nice, they'll give anyone who comes through a chance."

Pony felt an overwhelming sense of rage brew from within at that remark. "Why don't I believe that…?" She said while just about grinding her teeth.

"Hey, stick around long enough here and you'll see." He replied, doing nothing to dispel her unapparent anger. "Either way you seemed like you were in a rush to get over to Vesta's so I'll let you be on your way. I was on my way to go see someone myself actually. You know where you're headed right?"

She paused to take a deep breath and calm herself. "Yes… it's right across the river, just down the path here."

Jack smiled. "Yep, good to see you know where you're headed. I guess I'll see you around." He started to resume heading back into town but stopped after a few steps and turned back to her. "Oh, right. Actually before you head off I was wondering if you'd like to maybe get together at some point and just, I don't know, talk about… family stuff?" He left a sense of uneasiness in those last few words.

Pony remained silent.

"It's just, well, you sound like you knew my father a bit and… I'd just like to know if there's anything you could tell me about him…" Jack explained.

"Yeah… yeah… I can… I can tell you a bit about him." She answered. The smile upon her face appeared to be uncomfortable.

"Really? That'd… that'd be great. Thanks." Jack replied with a smile more relaxed than hers. "I guess we'll talk later then."

Pony's expression remained unchanged as Jack soon left her presence with a wave. She did indeed actually have a brief history with his father, one that she had kept a secret from him even in her true form. It was a complicated tale of understanding and pity that was hard enough for her to explain when they both held contempt for the man in question and something that she certainly couldn't try to lie about as Pony.

The spring breeze lightly brushed through her hair and over towards the east bringing her attention back to the farm just beyond the river and the task at hand. From what Jack had said it sounded as though she was free to sit down and explain her story to him whenever she felt ready. Though the stress of situation continued to linger within her mind she nonetheless decided to refocus her attention on retrieving Ruby's delivery.

* * *

Though she couldn't place her finger on why, the region of the valley just upon the other side of the river felt tranquiller than that of the town space. Maybe it was the shortage of buildings or the noticeable sound of the stream flowing through the field. Whatever it was it certainly helped calm her mind as she took her approach towards the farmhouse just ahead. Still, even when lit up in the midafternoon sun the home emitted the same sense of dread she felt the morning she had fled in humiliation after her rescue had turned south.

" _She's going to see right through you... There's no way this will work."_

With a deep breath she raised her hand up and bunched it into a fist before knocking on the door. The seconds it took before the doorknob clicked felt like an eternity and a half to her as she concentrated all her effort on preventing herself from shaking in her shoes. Much to her surprise and relief the door was opened by a rather large woman donned in a yellow ensemble.

"Why hello there." She greeted in a fairly deep voice. "What might I be able to help you with today?"

"Hi, I'm Pony." Pony replied back. Her sense of anxiety hadn't completely vanished but was largely unnoticeable in her words. "I'm… sort of new in town."

The woman extended her hand out before Pony and smiled. "Nice to meet you Pony. I'm Vesta, this here's my farm."

Pony smiled back and, recognizing the gesture from her previous introduction with Jack, shook her hand. "Oh, good. I was asked by Ruby to come over here and pick up her delivery for today."

Vesta leaned back and let out a hearty laugh. "Sweet little Ruby has you running her errands eh? Well it's nice to see you've managed to find a job out here so soon at least."

To anyone else the lightheartedness of Vesta's remark would have likely been detected but Pony's gaping lack of expertise in social interaction caused her to wonder if she was attempting to imply that Ruby was simply trying to take advantage of her.

"Not exactly… I'm helping Ruby out when she needs it in exchange for a place at the inn." She explained. "I… kind of misplaced my money…"

"Ah, no worries. We take care of each other out here as you can see. It's a nice little community" Vesta replied.

Her comment triggered the same time of anger in her that Jack's had just moments ago. It was infuriating to say the least how the residents of the valley could easily claim to be an accepting society while simultaneously either disregarding or despising her very existence.

"Ruby's delivery should actually be all ready to go over in the storage house next door." Vesta continued. "I think Celia's working in there, she should be able to give you a hand."

"Oh… alright. Thanks…" Pony muttered uneasily.

"Well it was nice to meet you Pony. I hope I get to see you around some other time." Vesta smiled and waved before closing the door.

Slowly, Pony turned to the storage house that sat just a few feet behind her.

"Just go in, ask about the delivery and head out…" She said to herself. "Real fast… Just… Argh, why are you so afraid? It's just some human girl, she can't do anything. Remember, you have to be confident. You can do this."

With an admittedly unconvincing sense of determination Pony marched around the building and up to the door of the storage house. She hesitated for a moment in front of the door before giving it a light knock and watched as it slowly creaked open in response.

"Hello?" A familiar voice called from inside. "Is someone there?"

Pony nearly found herself freezing up as a result but her newfound resolve gave her the courage to just about throw herself through the doorway.

"H-H-Hello." She answered as she stumbled inside. "You… you must be Celia… right?"

Celia placed the small wooden crate full of turnips in her hands down on a table that sat in the corner of the small room and smiled.

"Mhmm, that's me." She said with a slight giggle.

"H-Hi. My… my name's Pony." Pony replied. "I… I just got into town the other day…"

Celia's smile only seemed to grow. "Hello Pony, it's nice to meet you. Was there something I can help you with?"

Pony paused for a moment and examined her. Much like with Nami she could detect that this overwhelming sense of kindness radiating from of Celia's tone and expression was typical for her. She wasn't some hulking monster like her mind was making her out to be, she was a gentle and sweet young woman.

At least if the person she was interacting with wasn't a witch it seemed. Regardless, it was in her best interests to restrain any anger said revelation might trigger and focus on trying to be a normal person.

"Yeah… yeah." She finally answered with a growing calmness. "I… I came here to help get Ruby's order for today. She sent me over here and Vesta said it was somewhere in here."

"You're helping Ruby? That's nice of you." Celia remarked as her eyes began to bounce about the various containers set about the room. "Her order should be around here somewhere…"

"Yeah, it's to help pay her back for letting me stay at the inn since I don't have any money." Pony told her. "She's the nice one, giving me a place to stay like that."

"Well I'd say you're both nice then, helping one another out like that." Celia said. It appeared as though she spotted the crate addressed to Ruby as she started to make her way towards the lone one in the back corner. "I'm glad to hear that things managed to work out for you like that though."

"And I'm glad to see that you seem to be feeling much better." Pony noted, her thoughts unconsciously following after Celia's example of complimenting one another.

Just as her hands laid themselves on the sides of the crate Celia seemed to freeze up. With her eyes narrowed in confusion she turned back towards Pony.

"Feeling… better…?" She asked with uncertainty.

Pony's eye's nearly burst out of her head.

" _!"_

"Y-Yeah… I… I ran into Jack today… he's my cousin by the way, kind of a long story… and he, he told me that you weren't feeling too well the other day… when I told him I was going to come over here and that's why I'm happy to see that you're feeling better." She attempted to explain in a lie.

Celia's hands slowly slide down the sides of the crate as her head sank. "Yeah… I guess I am… _better_..."

Her eyes blankly gazed down at the top of the box. She seemed almost like a cheerful bird whose wings had just been clipped.

She had been reminded of just how fragile she was.

"I… I'm sorry…" Pony began, sensing her remark was the cause of her sudden mood swing. "I… I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's okay." Celia interrupted while shaking her head. "It's… it's just…" She sighed. "Let me get you that box..."

Carefully she returned her hands to the sides of the crate but refused to move any further. She closed her eyes and began to take a series of deep breaths to prepare herself for the task of lifting the box up off the ground. Her body refused to even budge however.

Eventually she sighed and once again relinquished her grip.

"I'm sorry…" She sighed in agonizing defeat. "Do… do you think you could lift it yourself…?"

"Y-Yeah…" Pony nodded, just barely above a whisper.

Cautiously, Pony tiptoed over to Celia's side and retrieved the crate that sat at her feet. It didn't feel all too heavy in Pony's grip but her attention was more focused on Celia's absolutely crushed expression. It was clear that her comment concerning her wellbeing was what triggered her humiliation but that had been nowhere near her intention.

Sadly, the irony of this was lost on her.

Unsure of what to do she slowly started to make her way towards the door.

"Th… thanks…" She said quietly.

"Yeah…" Celia replied just as softly.

* * *

The guilt from what had occurred in the storage house failed to as much as shrink when Pony returned back to the inn. Upon entering the sound the large crate in her grip being set against the hardwood floor the lobby was enough to attract Ruby from the backroom.

"Oh, Pony, I didn't expect you to be the one who'd be delivering my crops." She said with a slight laugh.

Pony gave a quiet curtesy laugh. "Yeah… guess that was unexpected…"

With the guilt-ridden expression still firmly on her face Ruby was quick to notice that something was off.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No, no, nothing's wrong." Pony answered as she tried to convince herself of that as well. "Just… just a bit of a long day already…"

Ruby momentarily frowned but soon formed a hint of a smile. "Hm, well I'll tell you what, why don't you go upstairs and rest up and I'll use some of the crops here to cook you up a nice meal. Help get your mind off of things."

"No, Ruby, I… I can't…" Pony protested, speaking both literally and figuratively.

As a witch, eating was less of a necessity to her and more treat. Besides, a small meal was hardly going to distract her from the guilt she felt over the state she had left Celia in.

"Oh come now, I won't take no for an answer now." Ruby told her. "I think you've earned it."

As Pony looked upon Ruby's face she sensed almost a grandmotherly sense of affection coming from her, despite not even being half the age of one. It was clearly, even to Ruby, that the gesture was far from the solution to the current troubles on her mind but if a brief remedy was being offered it felt like it was worthwhile to take it.

"Alright." Pony conceded with a partial smile. "You can make me something."

"You go and rest up for a bit." Ruby said, directing her towards the stairs. "I'll call for you when it's ready."

Pony began to walk over towards the staircase but stopped and turned back to her.

"I… I really appreciate all of this…" She said with sincerity. "You're… you're so kind to me…"

"You're my guest dear, of course I am." Ruby replied. "But, even if you weren't I'd treat you just the same. It's just the way everyone should be."

Pony attempted to smile at her remark but simply could not.

All around her it seemed that the valley was filled with promises of kindness and compassion. Promises that conveniently ignored her.

* * *

 _A/N: With my final year of school off to a start I can tell you that updating frequency will probably be at an all-time low for the foreseeable future. I have some one-shot ideas that can maybe fill some gaps but I'm also considering dabbling in another work as well so everything's up in the air for the time being. Exciting isn't it?_


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